{"id":43894,"date":"2017-09-22T06:33:14","date_gmt":"2017-09-22T06:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=43894"},"modified":"2017-09-22T06:33:14","modified_gmt":"2017-09-22T06:33:14","slug":"reliving-chinas-long-march-ahead-of-party-congress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/reliving-chinas-long-march-ahead-of-party-congress.html","title":{"rendered":"Reliving China’s Long March ahead of party congress"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reliving China’s Long March ahead of party congress<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Reliving China’s Long March ahead of party congress:- A man in \u201cRed Army\u201d garb hits the pavement during a simulated attack during a re-staging of part of the Long March.<\/span><\/p>\n

The scene brings alive an extraordinary chapter in China\u2019s history that established the supremacy of Chairman Mao Zedong and the Communist Party.<\/span><\/p>\n

Deep in the mountains of Jinggangshan in the southeastern province of Jiangxi, a classroom of bank tellers participates in an ideological boot camp that plays into Chinese President Xi Jinping\u2019s drive to further consolidate his grip on power.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jinggangshan is considered the \u201ccradle of the Chinese revolution\u201d and, in 1927, was the official birthplace of the Red Army, now known as the People\u2019s Liberation Army of China.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reliving the revolution, students walk the route of the Long March, a series of retreats by the Red Army, led by Mao, to evade the pursuing Nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek between 1934 and 1935.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI can feel the spirit of the revolution,\u201d said Wang Pingzhu, a 32-year old garment company employee from the southern province of Fujian.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as I got here I could see it along the road. I could imagine the scene at the time,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the three-day course, participants visit historical sites, pledging allegiance to the Communist Party and Xi\u2019s dream of the \u201cgreat rejuvenation of the Chinese nation\u201d ahead of a key party congress next month.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think the Communist Party emphasizes this sort of education, to try to control the thinking of party members and at the same time control a portion of the population who still have faith in the party, so they can support the leadership,\u201d said Zhang Lifan, an independent political commentator.<\/span><\/p>\n

CODE RED?<\/span><\/p>\n

In reviving Maoism and courting powerful conservative elements in the party, Xi seeks to remind people that China\u2019s dramatic ascent to become the world\u2019s second-largest economy was not simply a case of ditching Marx for markets.<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cRed Culture\u201d training camp for private and public sector workers aims to rekindle faith in the founding principles of the party and drown out critics who say it has lost its ideological soul after more than three decades of free-market reforms.<\/span><\/p>\n

Its program fits with Xi\u2019s push for patriotic education and ideological control of the people, an agenda he has promoted since coming to power in 2012 and is expected to further build on in October\u2019s five-yearly leadership reshuffle.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUnder the leadership of President Xi, ideological belief education has set off a new wave in China,\u201d said Zuo Jianxing, a forestry official in the northern province of Inner Mongolia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Harking back to Mao\u2019s time still resonates with some of the population, 41 years after his death. But the fear is that the younger generation of Chinese may be too preoccupied with the fruits of capitalism to care much about Red Culture.<\/span><\/p>\n

That may explain why, five years after taking power, Xi continues to espouse old school Maoism as a way to reassert the primacy of the party.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Communist Party loses power, they are finished,\u201d said political commentator Zhang.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-china-congress-longmarch\/reliving-chinas-long-march-ahead-of-party-congress-idUSKCN1BW320<\/span><\/p>\n

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